Mining machine having ripper drum between spaced boring heads



July 4, 1967 J. GONSK! 3,329,467

MINING MACHINE HAVING RIPPER DRUM BETWEEN SPACED BORING HEADS Filed Jan. 29, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVEN TOR.

' Joseph Gon ski V BY a) 144%, 2 6m; ad-

July 4, 1967 J. GONSKI 3,329,467

MINING MACHINE HAVING RIPPER DRUM BETWEEN SPACED BORING HEADS Filed Jan. 29, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR.

Joseph Gonski July 4, 1967 J. GONSKI 3, 29,467

MINING MACHINE HAVING RIPPER DRUM BETWEEN SPACED BORING HEADS Filed Jan. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Joseph Gonsln' United States Patent ice 3,329,467 MINING MACHINE HAVING RIPPER DRUM BETWEEN SPACED BORING HEADS Joseph Gonski, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Pittsburgh,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 429,093 11 Claims. (Cl. 299-57) This invention relates to improvements in continuous mining machines of the boring type and more particularly relates to an improved form of low height boring type of continuous mining machine having a ripper cutter drum between the boring heads of the machine.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved form of low height continuous mining machine of the rotary boring type arranged with a view toward increasing the throat and conveying capacity of the machine by spacing the boring heads relatively widely apart and ripping the material in the space between the boring heads.

Another object of the invention is to improve upon the low height continuous mining machines of the rotary boring type heretofore in use for mining coal and the like, by ripping the coal in the spaces between the boring heads from the floor to the roof of the mine, and and progressing the mined material toward the throat and conveyor of the machine, by the ripper cutting action.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of continuous mining machine particularly adapted for mining low or thin seams of coal, in which the reduced cutting diameter of the boring heads made neces sary to mine low seams of coal is compensated forby widely spacing the boring heads on opposite sides of the conveyor and by providing a ripper cutter between the boring heads rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the boring heads and cutting from the roof to the floor of the mine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a low height continuous mining machine of the rotary boring type having two relatively widely spaced boring heads extending forwardly of the cutter frame of the machine, on opposite sides of the conveyor of the machine, and cutting in the spaces between the cutting patterns of the boring heads by two coaxially arranged ripper cutters. rotating about axes perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the boring heads, and having cutter supports, cutting in generally tangential relation with respect to the cutting patterns of the boring heads.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and wit-h reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front end view of a continuous mining machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the forward end portion of the machine shown in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial fragmentary longitudinal section view of the front end portion of the machine, showing a part of the cutter frame and conveyor in longitudinal section and showing a ripper cutter in side elevation; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken through the ripper cutters, with certain parts broken away.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I have shown the forward end portion of a continuous mining machine of the boring type having a cutter frame 11 supported on a conventional main frame (not shown) and extending in advance thereof. The cut- 3,329,467 Patented July 4, 1967 ter frame 11 is mounted on the main frame of the machine (not shown), for vertical adjustable movement with respect thereto and for adjustable movement about axes extending transversely and longitudinally of said main frame, as is conventional with such machines. The mining machine 10 is supported on the usual laterally spaced continuous traction tread devices 12, which serve to tram the machine from working place to working place and to feed a pair of laterally spaced boring heads 13, 13 supported on and extending in advance of the cutter frame 11, and a pair of coaxial ripper cutters 14, 14 cutting in advance of the boring heads, into the working face of a mine.

The machine also has a conveyor 15 extending from a position adjacent the ground at the front of the machine along and beneath a throat 16 formed in the cutter frame 11. The conveyor 15 may be a conventional form of single strand endless chain and flight type of conveyor, and may be of the laterally flexible type, to accommodate the discharge end portion of the conveyor to be moved to discharge the mined material to either side of the machine. The conveyor 15 extends from a position adjacent the ground, adjacent the forward end of the cutter frame 11, along the throat 16 and the longitudinal center of the machine, beyond the rear end thereof, in a conventional manner. An inclined shoe or plow 17 extends across the front of a frame 18 for the conveyor and beyond opposite sides thereof, to plow the loose mined material to flow up over said shoe onto the receiving end of the conveyor, upon advance of the machine during an operation of mining.

The cutter frame 11 has laterally spaced hubs 19, 19 extending forwardly therefrom from positions spaced laterally from opposite sides of the throat 16. Each hub 19 forms a bearing mounting and support for a hollow drive shaft 20, for a boring head 13. The hollow drive shaft 20 is of a conventional form and is shown as having three integral equally spaced boring arms 21, 21 extending radially therefrom. The boring arms 21 have telescopic arms 22 telescopically mounted therein and held in fixed relation with respect to each other and extensibly and retractibly moved with respect to the boring arms 21, 21 by a conventional form of adjusting mechanism, which is no part of the present invention so need not herein be shown or described.

Each boring head also has a central annular pilot cutter 23 projecting forwardly of the boring arms 21, 21 coaxial with the axis of rotation of the shaft 20. The pilot cutter has cutter bits 24, 24 mounted thereon and projecting forwardly therefrom, for cutting an annular pilot kerf adjacent the center of the seam.

The boring arms 21, 21 have cutter supports 25, 25 mounted thereon and extending forwardly therefrom and having cutter bits 26, 26 projecting therefrom and pitched to cut clearance for said cutter supports.

The telescopic arms 22, 22 have cutter supports 27, 27 projecting forwardly therefrom in general alignment with the cutter supports 25, and of an arcuate form in front view, conforming to the arc of travel of said cutter supports. The cutter supports 27, 27 have the usual cutter bits 29, 29 projecting therefrom and pitched to cut clearance for said cutter supports. Each cutter support 27 also has a plow 30 extending from the advance end portion thereof. The plow 30 extends angularly inwardly from the advance end of the cutter support 27 toward the axis of rotation of the boring head, and is pitched to progress the mined material toward the center of the machine into the paths] of the coaxial ripper cutters 14, 14 progressing the cuttings to the conveyor 15, to

be loaded thereonto.

The ripper cutters 14, 14 are individually driven about the axis of a dead shaft 33, perpendicular to the hollow boring head drive shafts 2t) and spaced apart by a spacer disk freely mounted on the shaft 33. Sup port arms 36, 36 extending forwardly of a front wall 37 of the cutter frame 11 form supports for said ripper cutters 14, 14.

As shown in FIGURE'4, each ripper cutter includes an outer drum 39 on the outer side of an associated arm 36 and an inner drum 40 on the inner side of the arm 36. The outer and inner drums are mounted for rotation about a support 41 extending forwardly of the arm 36 and supported thereon. The support 41 has an outer cylindrical supporting surface and forms a bearing support for the forward end of a drive shaft 42. The drive shaft 42 extends along a slot 38 in the arm 36, within the support 41. The support 41 also forms a bearing support for a bevel gear 43, driven from a bevel pinion 44 on the drive shaft 42, within the limits of the support 41. The mounting for the cutter drums on the support 41 and the bearing mountings for the shaft 42, bevel gear 43 and bevel pinion 44 are similar to those shown and described in Patent No. 3,157,438, which issued to Richard C. Lundquist on Nov. 17, 1964, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The outer drum 39 has three equally spaced arms 45, extending radially therefrom and having cutter supports 46 bolted or otherwise secured thereto. The cutter supports 46 are shown in FIGURE 3 as having a plate 47 abutting an arm The plate 47 has a plurality of rows of apertures or bolt holes 49 therein, adapted to register with similar rows of bolt holes 50 in the associated arms 45, to accommodate radial adjustment of the cutter supports 46 in accordance with the height of seam being mined. The plate 47 also has a drum segment 48 extending along the top of the associated arm 45 and laterally therefrom.

The drum segments 48 are braced to the plate 47, as by gusset plates 51, and have a series of cutter blocks 52 projecting radially outwardly therefrom and arranged in circumferential laterally spaced rows. The cutter blocks 52 carry the usual cutter bits 53, pitched to cut .clearance for the cutter blocks 52 and the drum segment 48.

It may be seen from FIGURES 1 and 4 that the drum segments 48 are sufficiently long to extend over or overlap andunderlap the cutting paths of the boring heads 13, 13 as they cut from the roof to the floor of the mine, and that the outer cutter supports 27, and bits 29 rotatably move in the spaces between the drum segments 48, into positions closely adjacent the ends of the drums 39'. The cutter bits 53, 53 thus make ripping cuts in advance of the boring heads 13, 13- and lap the cutting paths of said boring heads and cut generally tangentially to the cutting paths of said boring heads as said cutter bits out along the floor and roof of the mine. The cutter bits 53, 53 thus substantially eliminate any cusps that may project upwardly of the mine floor and downwardly of the mine roof, and should any small cusps project upwardly of the mine floor, they will be small enough that they may readily be planed from the floor by the plow 17, as the machine advances during the mining operation and the material mined by the boring heads 13, 13 is advanced by the plows 30, 30 into the paths of the ripper cutters 14, 14 rotatably driven to impel the material mined by the boring heads toward the receiving end of the conveyor 15 and also to impel their own cuttings onto the conveyor.

The inner drum 40 is shown in FIGURE 4 as having a stepped periphery having circumferentially spaced aligned radial arms 55 extending therefrom. A cutter support 57 is bolted or otherwise secured to the arm 55 and for radial adjustable movement with respect thereto in the same manner the cutter supports 46 are bolted to the arms 45. The cutter support 57, like the cutter support 46, includes a drum segment 58 having circumferential rows of cutter blocks 59 extending radially outwardly therefrom. The cutter blocks 59 have conventional cutter bits 60' mounted therein and projecting outwardly therefrom and pitched to cut clearance for the cutter support 57.

The drive from the bevel gear .43 to the drums 39 and 40 includes a sleeve 61 on the dead shaft 33. The sleeve 61 has an annular plate or flange 63 extending radially therefrom. The flange 63 abuts the inner end of the drum 48. -An annular rib 64 extends inwardly of the flange or plate 63, and abuts the inner side of the end portion of the drum 40. The flange or plate 63 may be bolted or otherwise secured to the end of the drum 40.

The outer end of the sleeve 61 has a hub 65 keyed or otherwise secured thereto. An annular flange or plate 66 extends outwardly of the hub 65 to the inner periphery of the outer end portion of the drum 39*. The flange 66 abuts the end of a bearing support member 67 and is bolted or otherwise secured thereto. The bearing support member 67 in turn is suitably secured to the drum 39 and is journalled on a bearing support portion 69 of the support 41, on radial thrust bearings 70.

The sleeve 61 has a sleeve 71 extending thereabout and spaced radially therefrom and suitably journalled in the support 41, in radial thrust bearings 72, 72. The bevel gear 43 is keyed or otherwise secured to and drives said sleeve. A spur gear 73 is also keyed or otherwise secured to the sleeve 71 and abuts the hub portion of the bevel gear 43 and meshes with and drives a planetary pinion 75. The planetary pinion 75 is rotatably mounted on a pin 76 suitably mounted at its ends in the support 41. The pinion 75 in turn drives an internal gear 78, keyed or otherwise secured to the inner periphery of the drum 40, for rotatably driving said drum and the drum 39 through the sleeve 61. 7

Each shaft 42 extends along the associated arm 36 along the slot 38 therein, through an opening 79 in the front wall 37 of the cutter frame 11. The shaft 42 is driven from a universal coupling 80, driven from a sleeve 81 on a drive shaft 82 extending inwardly of an intermediate wall 83 of the cutter frame 11. The drive sleeve 81 is journalled in the wall 83 on antifriction bearings 85, in a conventional manner. The shaft 82 has a spur gear 86 keyed or otherwise secured to the inner end thereof, meshing with and driven from a spur gear 87. The spur gear 87 is a part of a conventional drive train for a boring head 13. The boring heads 13 are each driven from individual electric motors (not shown) through suitable geared reduction trains, which may be of a conventional form so not herein shown or described further.

The two ripper cutters 14, 14, retained from vertical movement with respect to each other by the dead shaft 33, may thus be independently driven by the drive mechanism for the respective boring head and in timed relation with respect to the respective boring head 13, to accommodate the cutter supports 27 of the boring heads to move into the spaces between the cutter supports 46 of the ripper cutter drums twice during each cycle of rotation of the boring heads 13, to mine out a substantially continuous mining area from one rib to the other of the mine, leaving minimal cusps depending from the roof and projecting upwardly from the floor, the cusps projecting upwardly from the floor being removed by the plow 17.

The independent drives to the boring heads and ripper cutters on each side of the machine therefore prevent overloading of the machine, Where the load on one ripper cutter and boring head may be greater than that on the other, as where the boring heads and ripper cutters are tied together and driven from two motors and the boring head or ripper cutter or both, on one side of the machine may encounter hard inclusions in the coal seam and the power from the two motors may be transferred to the side of the machine under load, and in effect provides two independent ripper and boring cutters on each side of the longitudinal center line of the machine.

The structure just described, therefore, enables the boring heads 13, 13 to be spaced relatively wide distances apart, to economically mine low height coal seams while the ripper cutters 14, 14 mine in the space between the boring heads, mining with a direct ripping action that not only laps the cutting paths of the boring heads distances sufiicient to cut a greater part of the cusps, which ordinarily depend from the mine roof and extend upwardly from the mine floor, but also to impel their own cuttings and the cuttings of the boring heads to the conveyor 15 of the machine.

It may further be seen that the ripper cutters in front of the throat 16 and the conveyor 15 are of sufiicient width to enable the throat and conveyor to be large enough to efliciently carry all of the cuttings mined by the boring heads 13, 13 and ripper cutters 14, 14 away from the face as the mining operation progresses, and to thereby avoid choking of the throat and conveyor and provide a clean floor as the mining operation progresses, in which the cuttings are all impelled toward the ripper cutters by the plows 30, and are continually impelled by the ripper cutters onto the receiving end of the conveyor.

It should here be understood that when it is desired to tram the machine from working place to working place, the ripper cutters 14, 14 are positioned in a position similar to that shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 with the top cutter bits clearing the roof of the mine and the bottom cutter bits clearing the floor of the mine.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the invention may be embodied, it may readily be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a cutter frame on said main frame,

two widely spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame and extending in advance theerof and mounted for rotation about axes extending longitudinally of said main frame and having cutter bits projecting forwardly therefrom,

and at least one ripper cutter disposed between said boring heads having a peripheral portion extending in advance of said boring heads and of a diameter to mine substantially from the roof to the floor of the mine in the space between said boring heads.

2. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame and projecting forwardly therefrom,

two widely spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame and extending in advance thereof and having cutter bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

and at least one ripper cutter disposed between said boring heads and having segmental cutter supports spaced radially of the axis of rotation of said ripper cutter and extending in lapping relation with respect to a portion of the cutting path of at least one boring head, to provide a substantially straight line roof and floor, extending generally tangentially of the cutting path of said boring heads.

3. In a continuous mining machine, having a mobile main frame,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame,

two widely spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame for rotation about axes extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said main frame and having cutter bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

a pair of coaxial ripper cutters disposed between said boring heads and supported on said cutter frame for rotation about coaxial axes extending perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said boring heads,

said ripper cutters having cutter supports spaced radially of the axis of rotation of said ripper cutters and lapping portions of the paths of cutting of said boring heads and having peripheral portions extending in advance of said boring heads.

4. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a conveyor extending along said main frame from a position adjacent the ground in advance of said main frame beyond the rear end of said main frame,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame above said conveyor and extending in advance thereof and having a central downwardly opening throat facing said conveyor and extending therealong,

two laterally spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame and extending in advance thereof and having rotary cutter bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

one boring head being spaced on each side of said throat and each boring head rotating in a direction to progress the mined material in front of said throat, at least one ripper cutter disposed between said boring heads in front of said throat and rotatably driven about an axis perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said boring heads, to progress the cuttings to said throat and conveyor,

the axis of rotation of said ripper cutter being fixed from vertical movement with respect to said cutter frame,

and said ripper cutter having radially extending cutter supports having drum segments on the ends thereof having cutter bits projecting radially and angularly therefrom,

said drum segments being sufficiently wide to position the cutter bits mounted thereon to cut in overlapping and underlapping relation with respect to an intermediate portion of the cutting path of the adjacent boring head and substantially tangential to the path of cutting thereof along the roof and floor of the mine and in advance of the paths of cutting of said boring heads.

5. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a conveyor extending along said main frame from a position adjacent the ground in advance of said main frame and beyond the rear end thereof,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame and extending in advance thereof and having a downwardly opening central throat registering with and extending along said conveyor,

two laterally spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame for rotation about axes extending longitudinally of said main frame and having rotary cutter bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

one boring head being spaced on each side of said throat and each boring head rotating in a direction to progress its cuttings in front of said throat,

and a pair of ripper cutters supported on said cutter frame in advance thereof for rotation about a common axis perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said boring heads,

each ripper cutter having a plurality of equally spaced radially extending arms having cutter supports thereon,

said cutter supports including drum segments on the ends of said arms and conforming to the arcs of travel thereof,

said drum segments having rows of cutter bits spaced therealong and pitched to cut clearance for said drum segments and to cut from the roof to the floor of the mine in cutting paths lapping intermediate portions of the cutting paths of said boring heads and to mine the roof and floor along lines substantially tangentially of the cutting paths of said boring heads and 7 substantially in intersecting relation with respect thereto, and rotating from the roof to the floor of the mine and progressing their own cuttings and the cuttings of said boring heads to said conveyor and central throat. 6. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a conveyor extending along said main frame from a position adjacent the ground in advance of said main frame upwardly to said main frame and along said main frame beyond the rear end thereof,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame and extending over said conveyor and having a central throat opening toward said conveyor and registering therewith,

two laterally spaced boring heads extending in advance of said cutter frame and mounted on said cutter frame on opposite sides of and in laterally spaced relation with respect to said throat,

a pair of parallel spaced arms extending forwardly of said cutter frame,

individual ripper cutters rotatably mounted on said arms for rotation about coaxial axes extending perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said boring heads,

each ripper cutter including a drum rotatably mounted on an associated arm and extending to opposite sides thereof and having radial arms extending therefrom having drum segments mounted on the ends thereof and extending coaxial with the axes of rotation of said drums, I

the inner drum segments on the insides of said arms having cutter bits spaced radially therefrom and mining in the spaces between said arms,

the outer drum segments extending outwardly of said arms having cutter bits projecting radially therefrom,

and said outer drum segments being diametrically spaced from each other a distance greater than the length of the forwardly projecting cutter supports of said boring heads to enable said cutter supports to cut in the space therebetween and to position said drum segments and the cutter bits mounted thereon, to mine in underlapping and overlapping relation with respect to the adjacent intermediate portions of the cutting paths of said boring heads, and tangentially of the cutting paths of said boring heads adjacent the roof and floor of the mine, and to progress the cuttings of said boring heads and their own cuttings rearwardly onto said conveyor during a mining operation.

7. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 6 wherein the ripper cutters are connected together by a dead shaft coaxial with the axes of rotation thereof.

8. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 6 main frame,

a conveyor extending along said main frame from a position adjacent the ground in advance of said main frame and beyond the rear end thereof,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame and extending in advance thereof and having a downwardly opening central throat registering with and extending along said conveyor,

two laterally spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame for rotation about axes extending longitudinally of said main frame and having rotary cutter bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

one boring head being spaced on each side of said throat and each boring head rotating in a direction to progress its cuttings in front of said throat,

a pair of parallel spaced support arms extending forwardly of said cutter frame on opposite sides of said throat,

a ripper cutter supported on each of said arms for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said boring heads,

each ripper cutter having a plurality of equally spaced radially extending arms having drum segments on the ends thereof conforming to the paths of travel of said arms and having laterally spaced rows of cutter bits projecting from the outer sides thereof, of a cutting diameter, to cut from the roof to the floor of the mine,

said drum segments being sufficiently long to cut along the roof and floor of the mine, substantially to the cutting paths of said cutter supports of said boring heads, and generally tangentially thereof,

and means driving said ripper cutters in timed relation with respect to rotation of said boring heads to accommodate movement of said cutter supports of said boring heads into the spaces between said drum segments of said ripper cutters during rotation of said boring heads and ripper cutters.

10. In a continuous mining machine having a mobile main frame,

a conveyor extending along said main frame from a position adjacent the ground in advance of said main frame and beyond the rear'end thereof,

a cutter frame mounted on said main frame and extending in advance thereof and having a downwardly opening central throat registering with and extending along said conveyor,

two laterally spaced boring heads mounted on said cutter frame for rotation about axes extending longitudinally of said main frame and having rotary cutters bit carrying cutter supports projecting forwardly therefrom,

one boring head being spaced on each side of said throat and each boring head rotating in a direction to progress its cuttings in front of said throat,

a pair of parallel spaced support arms extending forwardly of said cutter frame on opposite sides of said throat,

a ripper cutter supported on each of said arms for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axes of rotation of said boring heads,

each ripper cutter including a pair of spaced drums on opposite sides of the associated support arm and connected to rotate as a unit,

said drums having a plurality of circumferentially spaced arms extending radially therefrom having drum segments mounted thereon and conforming to the arc of rotation of said drum segments, said drum segments having rows of laterally spaced cutter bits projecting generally radially therefrom,

the drum segments on the outer sides of said support arms being sufliciently long to overlap and underlap the cutting paths of said boring heads and to mine along the roof and floor substantially tangentially of the cutting paths of said boring heads, a dead shaft connecting said ripper cutters on each arm together, individual drive means for each of said boring heads,

and geared drive connections from said drive'rneans for said boring heads for driving said ripper cutters in timed relation with respect to rotation of said boring heads, to space said ripper cutters with respect to said boring heads to effect movement of said cutter supports in the spaces between said drum segments during rotation of said boring heads and ripper cutters to effect a mining operation.

11. A continuous mining machine in accordance with claim 10 wherein the geared drive connection for each ripper cutter includes a bevel gear on said dead shaft and a geared drive connection from said bevel gear to one of said drums.

ERNEST R.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1952 Canada. 3/1914 France.

PURSER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTINUOUS MINING MACHINE HAVING A MOBILE MAIN FRAME, A CUTTER FRAME ON SAID MAIN FRAME, TWO WIDELY SPACED BORING HEADS MOUNTED ON SAID CUTTER FRAME AND EXTENDING IN ADVANCE THEREOF AND MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT AXES EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID MAIN FRAME AND HAVING CUTTER BITS PROJECTING FORWARDLY THEREFROM, 